Fishburn and Hughes: A country of North Africa extending from the Atlas Mountains to the Atlantic coast. In the second century BC the people of Gaetulia joined Jugurtha (d.104 BC), king of Numidia, in his resistance to Rome. After the Mauretanians became Roman subjects in AD 40, the Romans made frequent sorties in Gaetulia. There was no proconsul in Gaetulia (the region was not entirely subordinated), yet the Gaetulians served in the auxiliary forces of the Roman Empire. The Inmortal

Fishburn and Hughes: "Cervantes's first book, an eclogue, written in 1583 and published in 1585. It is said to relate indirectly to the story of the author's courtship of Catalina de Palacio, whom he married in 1584, and to include among its characters many contemporary writers disguised under pastoral names. (75)

Fishburn and Hughes: "A region in northern Israel, the northernmost district of ancient Palestine, extending from the Mediterranean to the river Jordan. Christ spent most of his early life in Galilee, where the greater part of his public ministry and most of his miracles took place." (75)

Fishburn and Hughes: "The sacred river of the Hindus, who believe that bathing in its waters washes away all sins. The Ganges rises in the Himalayas, runs through the northern plain of India (now Bangladesh) and flows into the gulf of Bengal." (75)

Fishburn and Hughes: The name for horsemen of Spanish, Negro and/or Indian blood who lived in the River Plate provinces and were known for their poverty, bravery and love of freedom. Traditionally nomadic, the gauchos worked in open cattle-ranching, but with the advent of wire fencing in the nineteenth century their free-roaming life came to an end. Today the term has connotations both of extreme bravery and laziness; the gaucho has become a literary, almost a mythical, figure. The etymology of the word is uncertain, and its interpretation can be taken as a barometer of the political climate. According to one theory, the word was originally guacho, from the Mapuche huacho, meaning orphaned, destitute. More recent research maintains that it originated in the border area between Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, and means a deserter and cattle thief; it is still pronounced 'gaúcho' there, and may stem from the Guarani caúcho, meaning a drunkard. Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius

Fishburn and Hughes: A novel by the Russian-born Jewish Argentine writer Alberto Gerchunoff (1833-1949), published in 1910 as part of the centenary celebrations of independence. The novel is a paean to work, fraternity and man's ability to rise above life's obstacles, as experienced in Argentina. Set in a Jewish colony in the province of Entre Ríos, it tells of the hardships suffered by the early colonists and their eventual triumph over natural and cultural difficulties. Its overidealised portrayal has led to the saying that it depicts neither Jews nor gauchos. CF 353: ‘There were never any Jewish gauchos. We were merchants and small farmers’. Unworthy

Mongol emperor of China, 1162-1227, also called Jenghiz, Jingis or the Gran Khan.

Fishburn and Hughes: "The great Mongol warrior and ruler of genius who, after subduing the nomadic tribes of Mongolia, turned his attention to neighbouring states. Genghis led a series of expansionist military campaigns of extraordinary atrocity and plunder which resulted in the establishment of the Great Mongol Empire." (76)

Fishburn and Hughes: "Genoa, a city and fortified port in north-west Italy which came under Roman rule in the third 77 century BC and prospered as a port. After the fall of the Roman Empire, it was invaded first by the Lombards and then by the Moors. By the twelfth century it was one of the most important maritime republics of the Mediterranean, promoter of the Crusades, coloniser of the Levant and a bitter rival of Venice." (76)

Fishburn and Hughes: A Christian martyr who was adopted as patron saint of England under Edward III in about 1348; crusaders returning from Antioch had made him popular. CF 246: The reference is to the medieval legend of the triumph of St George over the Dragon, symbol of the Devil. The Zahir

Fishburn and Hughes: Also called the Second Reich to indicate its descent from the First (the medieval Holy Roman Empire). The German Reich was initiated by Bismark in 1871. Kaiser Wilhelm II was Emperor during the latter period up to the end of World War I. Following the tradition, Hitler called his regime the Third Reich. The Garden of Forking Paths

Fishburn and Hughes: A varying symbol in the context of different stories. The Garden of Forking Paths): the defiant and hostile attitude of the Chinese spy Yu Tsun, who acted as a German agent, appears justified in the light of events of the previous halfcentury. The German empire, established in 1870, joined the nineteenth-century scramble for China during the Sino-Japanese War (1894-5), and seized the port of Kioo-chow as a reward for supporting China. A German fleet was sent to patrol Chinese waters. In 1900 Germany joined the other European powers in suppressing the Boxer Rebellion, a formidable nationalist uprising against foreign penetration led by the Dowager Empress and her Manchu advisers. Kaiser Wilhelm II exhorted the German troops embarking for the east to emulate the Huns of the fifth century in putting down the enemy. Though the German forces reached Peking after the rebellion had been defeated, the Kaiser demanded that the young Prince Chum, half-brother of the Emperor, be sent to Berlin on a penitential mission and even asked that he perform 'kow-tow' in front of him. Story of the Warrior and the Captive Maiden: in the context of Droctulft's story, the marshes of Germany are the sign of a country still in the stage of barbarism, contrasted with the civilisation embodied in Ravenna. In 'Deutsches Requiem' Germany is used in two sets of conflicting images. Uppermost lies the representation of the spirit of pure Germanism (Kerndeutsch) as expounded in the Third Reich ideology of the master race. Briefly, this argued that the Nordic Aryans were the bearers of the highest form of civilisation and culture and that their purity had to be preserved for the salvation of mankind. Yet this image is offset by the wider, humanistic tradition exemplified by Hegel, Brahms and Goethe and even by their appropriation of Shakespeare. The Garden of Forking Paths; Story of the Warrior and the Captive Maiden; Deutsches Requiem

here a misprint for Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius, German orientalist and Biblical critic, 1786-1842, author of numerous works on the Hebrew and Maltese languages, on the Samaritans and Syrians, as wel as commentaries on the Pentateuch and Isaiah.

Fishburn and Hughes: (1786-1842). A German orientalist and biblical scholar famous for his rationalist methods of exegesis. In 1830 he was subjected to violent attack in the Evangelical press under the editorship of Hengstenberg. Gesenius was a friend of Thilo, with whom in 1820 he travelled to Paris, London and Oxford to examine oriental manuscripts. Deutsches Requiem

Fishburn and Hughes: An abbreviation for the German Geheime Staatspolizei (German secret police) responsible for 'security' within the Third Reich. Founded by Goering, and later controlled by Himmler, it had the power of arbitrary arrest of anyone considered to be an enemy of the state, and its decisions were not subject to judicial examination. It was declared a criminal organisation by the Nuremberg Tribunal of 1946. The Secret Miracle

Persian theologian and mystic, sometimes called Algazel, 1058-1111, author of the Tahafut-ul-Tahafut or Incoherence of the Philosophers

Fishburn and Hughes: A famous Persian theologian. After a nervous breakdown, Ghazali suffered a spiritual crisis and for a time became a Sufi mystic. He tried to reconcile the tensions between theology and philosophy. His anti-rationalist Tahafut-al-falasifa (Destruction of Philosophy) attacked the Neoplatonism of Avicenna (Ibn Sina), holding that the world was deliberately created by God and not simply an emanation of a First Being. His use of the word Tahafut (destruction) implies something like the collapse of a house of cards. The same concept was used by Averroes in his refutation of Ghazali. Averroës’ Search

English historian, 1737-94, author of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and other works

Fishburn and Hughes: "An English historian, author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-88). The first three volumes cover the history of Rome from the Antonines in the second century to the fall of the Western empire in the fifth; the last three take it to the sack of Constantinople ('New Rome') by Mahomet II in 1453. Though Gibbon shocked some contemporaries by the scepticism displayed in his account of the rise of Christianity, his work was much admired by others, such as David Hume, and remains a classic of English historiography. See 'Terribilis visu facies...' " (78)

Geneva, city in Switzerland where Borges lived during the First World War and where he died in 1986.

Fishburn and Hughes: "A Swiss city. Throughout World War I Borges lived with his family in Geneva where he attended the College Calvin. He often visited the city, and he died there on 14 June 1986. Geneva was a focal point in the Reformation as the home of Calvinism, a branch of the Protestant Church associated with strict moral codes. " (76)

alias of Scharlach in Borges story, the name being derived from that of Christian David Ginsburg.

Fishburn and Hughes: "Ginzberg - Ginsburg - Gryphius: Three aliases of the character Scharlach in 'Death and the Compass'. The first two are common Jewish surnames: Louis Ginzberg (1873-1953) was an American Talmudic and Rabbinic scholar who wrote extensively on Jewish subjects and edited the Jewish Encyclopaedia; David Ginsburg (1831-1914), who converted to Christianity in 1846, was the author of The Kabbalah: Its Doctrines, Development and Literature, first published in 1863. The narrator of The Unworthy Friend' is said to own books on the Cabbala by Ginsberg. Andreas Gryphius (1616-1664) was a leading German lyric poet and dramatist with a predilection for 'sanguinary themes and the terrors of the supernatural'. His delight in the absurd is exemplified by the title of one of his comedies, Horribilicribifax. " (79)

Fishburn and Hughes: "An Italian painter who abandoned the stylised forms of Byzantine art, aiming at a more realistic representation of the human figure, and was thus an important forerunner of the Renaissance. CF 383: Giotto's Circle is also a pun, alluding to an incident recounted in Vasari's Lives of the Painters (1550). When Pope Benedict IX was seeking proof of Giotto's artistic capability before employing him to decorate Saint Peter's, Giotto 'with the turn of the hand produced a circle so perfect... that it was a marvel to see'. " (88)

Fishburn and Hughes: "From the Greek gnôsis, knowledge: the collective term designating a number of early Christian sectarian doctrines. Because of its emphasis on direct knowledge of God and the secret of salvation, and its adherents' claim to possess this knowledge, Gnosticism was declared heretical by the Church Fathers. For the Gnostics, knowledge meant not rational 80 cognition but a revelationary experience 'transforming the knower himself by making him a partaker in the divine existence' (H. Jonas, The Gnostic Religion, Boston 1958). The essential feature of Gnosticism was its dualism. God is 'absolutely transmundane', alien to the universe, which he has not created and does not govern and to which he is as opposed as light is to darkness. The world is the creation of 'lower powers', Archons (rulers), who, though descended from God, do not 'know' God and obstruct knowledge of him. The earth is the domain of the Archons, whose leader is the Demiurge, or World Artificer. It is likened to a prison surrounded by cosmic spheres. Each Archon rules the earth and his particular sphere and bars the passage of souls wishing to escape and return to God. Mirroring the composition of the cosmos is the composition of man, whose origin is similarly twofold, his earthly body being bound by (seven) cosmic spheres, whereas 'pneuma', a spark of dormant divinity, is enclosed in his soul. The aim of Gnostic thinking is to liberate this imprisoned spark through 'knowledge'. Of particular relevance to Borges's work is the Gnostics' use of the labyrinth as a metaphor of a universe encompassing a plurality of worlds. Each section of the labyrinth corresponds to a different world through which the soul loses its way and wanders about, but whenever it seeks an escape 'it only passes from one world into another that is no less world'. Little was heard of the Gnostics after the second century, but their beliefs survived among other heretics, notably the Albigensians in the twelfth century. Because their beliefs implied that Jesus was not the Redeemer of humanity, the Gnostics were looked upon as Antichrist." (79)

Fishburn and Hughes: "The most celebrated modern German writer, exceptional for the range and depth of his work and generally considered the last universal genius. In his great drama Faust Goethe presents a symbol of Western European man in his unceasing quest for all possible experience. Although man's activity is shown to have negative results, the spark that ignites him is regarded as divinely inspired and in harmony with Nature. The Garden of Forking Paths: by comparing the sinologist Albert with Goethe, the narrator attributes to Albert a transcendental understanding of the individual human condition. This idea is emphasised in Deutsches Requiem), where Goethe is referred to as 'the prototype of that ecumenic comprehension'. The allusion to hammer and anvil as metaphors for master and slave is derived from two of Goethe's poems, 'Koptisches Lied' and 'Epigramme 14'. " (80)

Fishburn and Hughes: Various legends in biblical and Muslim apocalyptic literature connect Gog and Magog with two powers under the dominion of Satan (e.g. Revelation 20). CF 238: The incident referred to can be found in the Koran (Sura 18.92-8), where it is related that, when Dhul Qarnain (whom commentators have identified with Alexander the Great) was journeying from the south to the north, he came upon people who asked for his protection, begging him to build them a rampart against Gog and Magog who were ravaging their land. They offered him tribute, which he refused, saying, 'The power which my Lord has given me is better than any tribute.' With their help he built a strong wall to protect them. According to a Syriac legend, Gog and Magog attempt every night to escape from their confinement by digging under the wall, but before morning God repairs the breach. Averroës’ Search

Fishburn and Hughes: "An Italian playwright born in Venice, where he spent most of his life. Goldoni revolutionised Italian theatre, which until then had depended largely upon the conventions of the commedia dell'arte (improvised performances of stock comic situations by masked characters). He brought realism to the stage with his satirical social comedies whose distinguishing feature was their fast and witty dialogue, showing the influence of Molière. Those written in the Venetian dialect are considered his best. Goldoni was a prolific writer, the author of some 250 plays of which 150 are comedies. In 1765 he was engaged to teach Italian to the daughters of Louis XV, but his pension was withdrawn during the French Revolution and he died in poverty. His memoirs are considered an important document of eighteenth-century life." (81)

British publisher and humanitarian, 1893-1967, author of numerous works on religion, education and politics

Fishburn and Hughes: Writer and influential publisher, founder of the Left Book Club, and champion of socialist and humanitarian causes. Dorothy Sayers was among the famous authors whose work he published.

Fishburn and Hughes: In the Volsungsaga, a magic sword wrought for Sigurd by his tutor Regin, rival brother of Fafnir. The sword was reputed to be so powerful that it could cleave a tree in two with a single blow, and so sharp that it could cut a thread of wool in water. The Zahir

Fishburn and Hughes: The tramway company in Buenos Aires, set up in about 1870, controlled and managed by a British firm; the streetcars, which were originally drawn by horses, were later electrified. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, tramways were the main system of transportation in Buenos Aires. The Elderly Lady

Writer born in the United States who wrote mostly in French, 1900-1998, author of Leviathan, Epaves, Minuit and other works.

Fishburn and Hughes: "A novelist of American origin who wrote both in French and English and is the only foreigner to have been elected to the Académie Française. Green's religious preoccupations, morbid at times, are reflected in his paranoid characters and hallucinatory language. Referring to one of Green's novels, which he praises for the 'rigour of its inventiveness', Borges compares it to Henry James's Turn of the Screw and Kafka's Trial (Preface to Bioy Casares's La invención de Morel)" (82)

Fishburn and Hughes: "A German historian of Italy, the author of Roman Journals and books about the Papacy and Lucretia Borgia. Gregorovius lived for a time in Ferrara, one of the most important centres of the Papacy. His alleged observation 'that mention of the Phoenix in oral speech was very rare' is probably apocryphal." (82)

German diplomat and writer, 1845-1906, author of Der neue Tanhauser, Der Tanhauer in Rom and a biography of Schopenhauer.

Fishburn and Hughes: "A German historian, editor of Schopenhauer’s works in six-volumes, published in 1891. In ‘The History of the Echoes of a Name’ (TL 407) Borges records the words (regarding individual identity) that shortly before his death, Schopenhauer said to Grisebach." (82)

Fishburn and Hughes: An Indian dialect, originating in the Amazon delta area, spoken in Paraguay and in some areas of north-east Argentina. Present-day Guaraní contains a large percentage of words derived from Spanish or other foreign languages. While Guaraní is generally used by the poorer Indians and mestizo population living in the countryside, Spanish is spoken by the more affluent criollo population of the cities, who reserve Guaraní for communication with servants. The Duel

Fishburn and Hughes: "The largest city in Ecuador, a port on the Pacific south west of the capital Quito, founded in 1536. It was here that on 26 and 27 July 1822 the two great figures of Latin American history, Bolívar and San Martín, met to plan concerted action to expel the final vestiges of Spanish power from Peru. 'Guayaquil' is based on this momentous meeting, and upon the legends surrounding the behaviour of the two great leaders. There is no record of what was said, but San Martín stepped down and handed over the command of his troops to Bolívar. Historians have offered different interpretations of the event. Bolívar's supporters maintain that San Martín's true aim was to secure Guayaquil for Peru and that, if Bolívar refused to accept the offer to serve under him, it was through deference to San Martín. CF 394: The official version offered in Argentine textbooks is that San Martín stepped down as an heroic act of self-abnegation, knowing that his own troops, who were already in Peru, would fight under another general, whereas Bolívar's troops, who were in Ecuador, would be unwilling to move south and fight under another commander, because of their personal attachment to Bolívar. San Martín realised that neither he nor Bolívar could defeat the Spanish alone. He therefore made the sacrifice, knowing that Bolívar would pursue the fight until independence was established. The two great leaders had different priorities and temperaments: Bolívar, who has been likened to Napoleon in his passion and intensity, was a political genius whose aim was to establish democratic republics in the former Spanish 84 colonies; San Martín, compared to Washington for his strength of will and grasp of practicalities, believed that military leaders should keep out of politics and that each country should establish the form of government best suited to itself." (83)

Fishburn and Hughes: The 'great war' which took place between the two main opposing parties of Uruguay, the Blancos, led by Oribe and backed by Rosas, and the Colorado forces of Rivera, lieutenant of Artigas, supported by the Argentine Unitarians. CF 375: The second phase of the war, from 1843 to 1851, was known as the Great Siege and consisted mainly of the Blancos' siege of Montevideo, which thereby earned the epithet 'New Troy'. The Elderly Lady

Fishburn and Hughes: "The House of Roses, completed in 1317 by Mahmud Shabistari, one of the most important philosophical poems in the Persian language. More than thirty commentaries on it are extant; the best known, by Lahiji, is the basis of an English version by E.H. Whinfield, Gulshan i Raiz: the Mystic Rose Garden (London, 1880). There is no mention of the Zahir in Lahiji's commentary." (84)

Argentine popular novelist, 1851-1889, author of Juan Moreira, Hormiga Negra and other works.

Fishburn and Hughes: "An Argentine journalist and novelist who espoused the cause of the gaucho. He is chiefly remembered for his novel on the semi-mythical gaucho hero Juan Moreira, but he was also a chronicler of everyday life in Buenos Aires." (84)